Miniature thermoacoustic cooler

Abstract

A MEMS based thermoacoustic cryo-cooler for thermal management of cryogenic electronic devices and a resonant tube used therein. A vertical comb-drive can provides an acoustic source through a driving plate to the resonant tube. By exciting a standing wave within the resonant tube, a temperature difference develops across a stack in the tube, thereby enabling heat exchange between heat exchangers. A tapered resonant tube improves the efficiency of the cooling system, compared with a simple cylinder configuration, leading to reduced harmonics and strong standing waves.

1 . A resonance tube, for use in a micro cooling device, wherein the resonance tube is created by gray scale etching such that there exists a taper in the resonance tube, where the tapered resonance tube allows standing waves and reduces the occurrence of harmonic waves.  
   
   
       2 . The resonance tube of  claim 1 , wherein the resonance tube is constructed by gray scale etching sections, and bonding the sections together to form the resonance tube.  
   
   
       3 . An apparatus comprising: 
 a tapered resonance tube formed by gray scale etching, wherein the tapered resonance tube is configured to permit standing waves and is configured to reduce the occurrence of harmonic waves.    
   
   
       4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the tapered resonance tube is formed of sections of gray scale etchings bonded together to form the tapered resonance tube.  
   
   
       5 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the apparatus is a thermoacoustic cryo-cooler.  
   
   
       6 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , further comprising: 
 a vertical comb-drive operably coupled to the tapered resonant tube, wherein the vertical comb-drive is configured to provide an acoustic source to the tapered resonant tube.    
   
   
       7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , further comprising: 
 a driving plate, wherein the vertical comb-drive is coupled to the tapered resonant tube by the driving plate.